It took 4 shops before I managed to find a pair in stock. Annoyingly they were a size too big but as they were the last pair in the store and limited edition I still bought them. They’re Converse, so I can just do them up tighter and pray I won’t get blisters.

This was all part of a shopping trip for clothes, as aside from some cheap tat from Primark, I can’t remember the last time I updated my wardrobe. I also picked up some new t-shirts, including two with prints of Shepard Fairey’s recent works and another with the Laughing Man logo.

Health

• The perennial favourite, quit smoking. Well, I’m still smoking although recently I’ve been cutting back a lot when I’m at work and pretty much restricting myself to fags at lunch. If only I can do the same while I’m at home or out and about and I’ll have this addiction licked.
• Go to a dentist and try and get my teeth sorted. I had a couple of visits last year but I’ve missed my 6 month check-up.
• Improve my diet. Since my relationship with a soon-to-be-ex-housemate ended, I’ve been very lazy when it comes to cooking and for the past few weeks I’ve been living on junk food. I need to start cooking for myself again and stop eating so much crap. Success! After a lot of pizza earlier in the year, I’m eating healthier and home cooking again, resulting in losing 2 stone in weight compared to this time last year.
• Cut down on boozing, especially beer. After a few too many alcohol-fueled embarassments, I’ve been working on this and keeping it in mind while drinking.
• Lose some weight and exercise more. The gym nearest to my house has the inevitable “New Year, New Body!” promotion on, meaning there are no sign-up fees. As I’ve used sign-up fees as a reason not to join before, I have no excuses for not getting my membership sorted. As mentioned above, I’ve lost weight, now I need to keep it off and tone up. I’ve got the membership but went to the gym a grand total of two times, so I really need to improve on this or cancel my subscription.

Money

• Start saving instead of blowing all of my wages each month. At some point in my life I would like to own a house or at least have the option of doing so. Still need to start on this one.
• Blow some of these savings on a holiday and some kind of snowboarding trip. I didn’t make it to the Bangface Weekender or Machinenfest last year, so these are my priorities this year. Anything else will be bonus.

Social

• I seem to have ended up in a relationship so I guess I should make an effort not to mess it up as I did with my previous two. Well this pretty much went to shit. I think I need to be single for a bit while I get my head together and get over my ex. As much as I’d love to get back with her, I doubt it’s going to happen and I just have to accept that.
• Respond to text messages, phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner, instead of ignoring them and wondering why some people take offence. No real improvement so it’s back on the list for this year.

Creativity

• Finish my blog and keep it updated/Expand my portfolio and put it on-line again. As I’ve combined my blog and fledgeling portfolio into one entity, these are really the same. I overhauled the design and although it’s not 100% to my liking, I’m pretty pleased with it. I need to start posting more updates as I’ve slacked off since November and I’ve got half a dozen posts sat waiting to be finished and published.
• Blag a DJ set somewhere. I failed at this last year but it looks like I’ve managed to get a gig in March. I’ll believe it when I’m actually standing there “spinning” tunes from my laptop though.
• Get back into photography and use my flickr account more. More success! The Anonymous protests really got me back into photography and I’ve been snapping a lot more, appreciating the beauty of RAW and playing with LightRoom.
• Start learning German. I pretty much ignored this once I realised I wasn’t going to make it to Maschinenfest. As I’m now adamant about going this year, I suppose I really ought to learn the language.
• Have some kind of tuition for the piano/keyboard. I stopped working on music around the summer to concentrate on Flash. I’m starting to play around with it again now but I’ve realised it’s never going to be anything but a hobby. Tuition would be nice but I’ve got more important things to spend my money on.

2008 was pretty tumultuous for me. Changing jobs and all the stress that involves, particularly at the hands of useless recruitment agents. Heartache when my then-girlfriend goes travelling and breaking up with her, not realising it’s likely for good. Seeing someone else on the rebound and having to realise this. Moving house and severing part of my “support network” in the process.

On the plus side I’ve moved in with a fantastic housemate, I’m out of Saffron and really progressed my Flash work, started on some freelance work and it feels I’ve started a career of sorts.

I’d like 2009 to be better but after yesterday’s events, where I realised that I’m still in love with somebody who doesn’t feel the same way, I don’t have any particular hope. I think I need some time out to sort out where I’m going and what I want from this year, to try and mature emotionally and stop running from one relationship to another, as it feels that’s what I’ve been doing these past few years.

Despite (or because of) all that, I’m feeling pretty chipper these days. I’m loving the new flat I’m sharing with Dan and sleeping a lot better, both of which have really affected my overall mood. I’m more productive and as a result of a recent freelance gig I’ve started developing a WordPress plug-in. All will be explained once it’s a bit more polished. Once my desktop is up and running I can finally make a start on the backlog of 500 or so photos I’ve got to process.

Life’s alright at the moment. I hope it stays that way.

Health

• The perennial favourite, quit smoking.
• Go to a dentist and try and get my teeth sorted.
• Improve my diet. Since my relationship with a soon-to-be-ex-housemate ended, I’ve been very lazy when it comes to cooking and for the past few weeks I’ve been living on junk food. I need to start cooking for myself again and stop eating so much crap.
• Cut down on boozing, especially beer.
• Lose some weight and exercise more. The gym nearest to my house has the inevitable “New Year, New Body!” promotion on, meaning there are no sign-up fees. As I’ve used sign-up fees as a reason not to join before, I have no excuses for not getting my membership sorted.

Money

• Start saving instead of blowing all of my wages each month. At some point in my life I would like to own a house or at least have the option of doing so.
• Blow some of these savings on a holiday and some kind of snowboarding trip.

Social

• I seem to have ended up in a relationship so I guess I should make an effort not to mess it up as I did with my previous two.
• Respond to text messages, phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner, instead of ignoring them and wondering why some people take offence.

Creativity

• Finish my blog and keep it updated.
• Expand my portfolio and put it on-line again.
• Blag a DJ set somewhere.
• Get back into photography and use my flickr account more.
• Start learning German.
• Have some kind of tuition for the piano/keyboard.

In low resolution Inkjet print and horrible typography, it tells me that officially I am now an Adobe certified Flash designer.

The actual certification is a bit of a joke as it tests for Flash MX 2004 which obviously is a bit behind the times and two versions out of date. However, it’s the most current certification on offer and at the moment I’m unsure I’d pass a CS3 exam as I’m still not clued up on all of the new and improved features. I’m guessing most people in the industry know how simple the exam is, so it won’t have much of an effect on my career but those that don’t (i.e. recruitment agents) might be a little impressed.

Next up, the developer exam.

Today I celebrate being another year older and still none the wiser. I’m now out of the choice demographic for advertisers – I can’t tell if this is a good thing or not. I’m marking the occasion by working through the day, giving up smoking, cutting down on sugar and starting a new blog.

My life is so exciting.